Speaker



Feb. 2, 1960 H. OTTO 2,923,371

SPEAKER Filed Oct. 28, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

#42040 A arm BY m X Q Qw H. L. OTTO Feb. .2, 1960 SPEAKER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 28, 1957 mm r M I a M y W Y B United States,v Patetit o SPEAKER Harold, L. Otto, New York, NY. Application October 28, 1957, Serial No. 692,771 4 Claims. or. 18142 The present invention relates to speakers and more particularly to speakers of the high fidelity type.

The art endeavors to faithfully reproduce the signals coming in on a carrier wave such as a magnetic, electrical,'or sound wave, in the true and literal sense of the word fidelity. It is well known that distortions are introduced into the transmission system, not only between the input at the transmitting end and the output at the speaker end, but also that faulty, unharmonious, distorted signals or discord are introduced right at the input so that the output, even though a faithful reproduction will nevertheless be unpleasant to the human or animal ear.

Although many attempts have been made to overcome the foregoing disadvantages, none, as far as I am aware has been entirely successful since the most faithful reproduction of the input signal also reproduces the undesired discord thus shattering the illusion that the listener hears the actual sound rather than its reproduction as a transmitted signal.

It is an object of this invention to provide a speaker device so constructed and designed as to facilitate the passage through the speaker of sound signals more correctly represented and therefore more harmonious to the human and animal ear and which will also impede the passage of sound signals which will not be pleasantly received.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a speaker device which can be used with conventional radio, record player, and television equipment in common use.

The invention also contemplates providing a device which is inexpensive to manufacture and will be within the financial reach of the average pocketbook.

It is likewise within the contemplation of the invention to provide a device of simple construction, which is easy to manufacture, package and transport.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a perspective view of a speaker embodying the principles of my invention.

Figure 2 is a front view of the speaker shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a side view partly in section of the speaker shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 4 depicts an optional feature of the invention and shows a needle very suitable for use with my invention.

Generally speaking, the present invention contemplates a speaker device wherein the geometrical configuration of the various parts of the device are so constructed along certain symmetrical lines with respect to each other and the device as a whole so as to take advantage of the fundamental principles of the physics of sound, and wave motion, so as to facilitate the passage of those sounds which are pleasing to the ear. Thus, sounds finding a favorable reception on the ear as may be examplified by musical scales wherein the ratios of the frequencies of the various notes can be expressed as relatively small numbers. After experimenting with various shapes,

forms and sizes of symmetrical geometrical figures wherein the ratios of the various components could be expressed as the ratios of small whole numbers similar to the notes on musical scales, or could be expressed as well known trigonometric functions, I have discovered that a diamond shape with a ratio of seven to one of the major axis to the minor axis gave the most satisfactory results, because of the fact that this represents the number of octaves contained in the ythagorean cycle of fifths and the ratio within the musical octave itself is seven to one; I am simply magnifying the broader design of the cycle of fifths to meet the same specifications. The frequency of the musical notes in a full cycle of fifthscorresponding approximately to the ythagorean, just, and equal tempered scale is as follows:

Frequency in cycles per second 64 1024 128 2048 256 (Middle C) 4096 512 8192 I have therefore devised a speaker system based upon a symmetrical geometrical configuration derived from the above frequencies and have succeeded in embodying this principle in the needle and the horn of a speaker.

In carrying the invention into practice as shown in the accompanying drawings, I provide vibration transmitting means such as a spider or diaphram 11 designed to transmit the waves to a needle, if a needle is used. I have found that a steel diamond shaped, eight faced needle 12 is very effective particularly to bring out high frequencies. The needle acts as a carrier medium to carry sound emanating from the spider or diaphragm into the horn, and also as a selection means in that in carrying the sound from the spider or diaphragm to the horn, it rejects or plays down unharmonious sounds and selects and emphasizes those sounds which are harmonious and pleasing to the ear. The critical feature of the needle is that its major axis running from the tip A in contact with the diaphragm to the opposite tip B in contact with the horn is seven times the minor width across the poles C and D at the center of the diamond. The needle is fastened to a horn 13. Almost any type of fastening means can be used to fasten the needle to the horn as well as the diaphragm to the needle. I prefer to use the firm fixation of solder which appears contrary to the usual practice. The horn is generally conical in shape and the ratio of the vertical axis or the height of the horn to its horizontal axis or width is dependent upon the beaming effect desired. Advantageously, the ratio of the diameter of the horn at its outer edge to the width of the horn should be about 2 to 1 (if the horn is considered as a geometric figure, i.e., a cone, then, the ratio of the diameter of the base of the cone to its height is 2 to l. The horn is subdivided into twenty-one diamond shaped partitions around its frame, each partition being able to geometrically coincide with every other partition and the major axis of each of these diamond shaped partitions bears a ratio to the width of each partition of seven to one.

This is illustrated by partition number 14 having one end E near the needle and the other end F at the outer edge of the horn and the two poles G and H in the center of the diamond across its smallest axis. The ratio of the axis extending from E to F to the axis G to H is seven to one. It is to be observed that these theoretical axes cross at an imaginary point I and that the right triangles formed by these axes such as triangles EJ--G or FJ-H are such that the sides are in relationship to each other in the proportion of 7 :1:5 \/2.

The spaces between the diamond shaped sectors at the pmian 21 er the mm are generally assert-.21 by the number 20 and are filled by suitable sheet material having a triangular shape, and generally serve to fill out the shape of the horn.

The horn is fastened to a housing 15 at a pluralityof places in such a manner as to be capable of vibrating freely. I prefer to use rubber suspension material to hold the horn to the housing. While permittingxit to vibrate freely the fastening and suspension material should hold the horn fairly well in place. In the embodiment of my invention as illustrated by the drawings, I show a housing 15 which houses horn 13, and for convenience, I show'the horn as being fastened to the housing at only two places, 16 and 17 by rubber suspension material. In actual practice, the horn and housing are fastened in several places.

The present invention is particularly applicable to speakers which are to be used on devices where a'high quality tone at a low cost of production is desired in contrast to the speakers now in use which do not give satisfactory reproduction of the original sound signal either because of distortion introduced before reaching the speaker component of the system, or because of the passage through the speaker component or sound signals which the ear does not wish to hear.

Although the present invention has been described in conjunction witha preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are con- 4 sidered to be within "the scope and am-view of the invention and the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a speaker device, a horn subdivided into a plurality of diamond shaped sections, the ratio of the major axis to the minor axis of each'section being approximately seven to one.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, the horn being conical in shape and divided into twenty-one diamond shaped sections.

3. In a speaker device, a diamond shaped needle adapted and designed to transmit vibrations to a horn subdivided into a plurality ofdiamon'd shaped sections each section extending along the entire length of the horn, the ratio of the major axis to the minor axis of each section as well as of the needle being seven to one, the horn being approximately twice as high as it is wide.

4. A speaker device comprising a means of transmit ting Wave motion to a hornof a general conical shape, said horn being subdivided into aplurality of diamond shaped sections extending from the needle end of the horn to the,mouth of the horn, each section being capable of coinciding with every other section, and the length of each section being seven times its width, and means for fastening the born to a housing permitting the free vibration of the horn.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,829,355 Houghton .Oct. 27, 1931 

